


Rescues and Reunions

by JenJo



Series: To Live [3]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-24 14:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8376028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenJo/pseuds/JenJo
Summary: Carol finds someone in Siberia





	

**Author's Note:**

> Carol finds Tony.  
> This takes place concurrently with chapter 6 of 'To Live'.   
> Basically.  
> [author squints at timeline she created]  
> Basically.
> 
> If you haven't read 'To Live', then what you need to know:  
> -Tony's been missing for 10 days

“Alright,” Carol zipped up her jacket, turning to one of the (many) laptops in the room. “What’s the plan?”

“What is a plan?” FRIDAY answered. “I do not know this concept.”

“You are hilarious. Plan?”

“Very well. There is, of course, a jet in the hangar on the roof. Unknown to Ross, this jet is invisible to his sensors.”

“Stark is very smart.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that. I believe that you are familiar with flying a jet?”

Carol smiled, watching a path light up on the laptop’s screen. “I’ve flown a few in my time. Still no suit?”

“Negative on the suit. You ready to go?”

“Sure am. Let’s go find him.” Carol closed the laptop, walking to the elevator. She pulled out her mobile, sending a message.

 

**TO: JIM [3.30pm]** **  
** **[** On my way :) **]**

 

Carol put her phone away, exiting the elevator and making her way to the jet.

“FRIDAY?”

“Yes?”

“Could you send Rhodes a message every fifteen minutes, checking in with him?”

“Of course. Any particular message?”

“Variations on ‘still here’, ‘snow sucks’, ‘hope the hospital’s fun’.”

“Will do. Fifteen minutes from take off?”

Carol smiled as she brought the jet online. “Thank you FRIDAY. You are amazing. Now, let’s go find Stark.”

 

~~~

 

Three hours into the flight, Carol was begging to get worried. “Anything, FRIDAY?”

“You will be the first person I tell.”

“Did you-” Carol drifted off, focusing on landing the jet.

“An automatic message is being sent to Rhodey every fifteen minutes, using the variations you provided.”

Carol smiled, powering down the jet she had flown. “Thank you. Any suggestions before I head out?”

“Put on the headset in the compartment to your left.”

Carol opened the compartment, and put on the headset. “And?”

The words had no sooner left her mouth than the display in front of her left eye lit up with readings of all kinds.

“FRIDAY, what am I seeing?”

“You are in remote control of the XLVI armour.”

“The…” Carol looked out the window, where an armour was standing. “How do I control it?”

“If you would prefer, I can control the suit, go where you want it to.”

“Why is a suit here?”

“I believe that you will need back up. Boss was taken out; let me be of assistance.”

“Alright,” Carol stood up, getting out a warmer jacket. “Let’s go find the idiot.”

Carol zipped up the jacket, pulled up the hood, and left the jet. 

It was disconcerting, if Carol was honest. The armour walked ahead of her, relaying information to her headset. The suit was lifeless, but moved the same as if someone was piloting it. Carol was reminded of the first time she had seen the armours in person.  _ That had been a fun day. _

She shook her head, then instantly regretted it when the reading caused her to feel dizzy for a moment. She paused to regain her bearings, before walking forwards again.

The cold wind wasn’t helping matters; if it hadn’t been for the headset, Carol wouldn’t have been able to see where she was going. 

A two minute walk brought them to a locked door. FRIDAY opened the door, and led the way down. Each level they descended, Carol grew more concerned. The temperature was barely above freezing, and she could feel it through all her layers of clothing. How anyone could survive in this cold…  _ And there wouldn’t be any food around. _

With every step, Carol prepared herself to find a body. She even began thinking of what she would say at his funeral.

There were no traces of anyone living having been here in years, and that was concerning on so many levels.  _ Maybe I shouldn’t have come here... _

“I have something,” FRIDAY said, lighting up Carol’s headset. Carol ran at her top speed, the suit behind her, following the directions.

She ran until she came across a suit of armour seated on the ground. The armour was open, and Tony asleep inside it.  _ Oh, please be asleep. _

“Stark!” Carol collapsed next to him, checking for a pulse.

“Vitals indicate he is alive. Barely.”

Carol was breathing heavily; she put her hands on his shoulders. “STARK!”

Tony’s eyes blinked open, and he slowly looked at Carol. He whispered, voice cracking, “Why does an Angel of Death look like Danvers?”

“Tony,” Carol shook her head, taking off one of her jackets to put it around Tony. “You’re alive.”

“I am?” Tony blinked, looking around slowly. “Siberia?”

“Yeah. Nobody’s seen you in a week.”

“A week?” Tony coughed, beginning to shake his head, before aborting the movement. “No, it can’t be.”

Carol got up, holding out a hand to Tony. “Can you stand?”

Tony croaked out a no.

“Okay. Okay,” Carol stood up, looking around for a solution. “FRIDAY, can you get power to the suit?”

“I can transfer power from this armour to enable that armour to carry Boss to the jet, Carol.”

“You’re being called Carol?” Tony smiled, eyes slipping closed again. “I have been gone a while.”

“Stay awake Stark,” Carol bent down again,  tapping at his shoulder. “Don’t go sleeping on me.”

“I’ve slept enough to last a lifetime,” Tony muttered as the suit around him powered on, standing up. The suit closed around him, leaving his head exposed.

Carol frowned. “Where’s the helmet?”

“Here,” Carol turned; the other armour was holding the helmet. “But I do not believe that it will help in this situation. You should take your coat back.”

Carol shook her head, using the coat to protect Tony’s head from the wind ( _ as much as I can _ ), and followed the two suits of armour out of the bunker. She kept talking, talking nonsense, making sure that Tony was with her.

 

~~~

 

“So, a week?” Tony eventually got out, after two failed attempts and a cup of water. His voice was sore from disuse, and he was probably suffering from twenty different things.  _ But that can be fixed later. _

Tony had tried to sit up; his back was too sore to do so.  _ These beds are ridiculous; I’ve gotta redesign them.  _  He shook his head slowly, turning it to watch Carol engage the autopilot, before leaving the controls to stand beside Tony.

“A week,” Carol took one of his hands. “We were all worried about you. What happened?”

Tony turned to look at Carol, but it was another blond that he saw standing over him.

 

_ Did you know? _

_ I can do this all day. _

_ So was I. _

_ Explosion. _

_ Shatter. _

_ Pain. _

_ Pain. _

_ Pain. _

 

Tony closed his eyes, before opening them almost immediately. He refused to meet Carol’s eyes. “Nothing much. Had a chat with some acquaintances. You know how it is.”

Carol gave him a Look, squeezing his hand. “Tony, your armour was practically  _ destroyed _ .”

“The chat got heated?”

Carol sighed. “Fine. Don’t tell me. I’m just glad that you’re alive.”

Tony breathed out, before refocusing on Carol. “Rhodey?”

“Rhodey’s fine,” Carol gave him a smile. “He’s allowed out of his room now. With supervision, of course. Lila was with him when I left.”

“Good.” Tony closed his eyes. 

 

_ Light reflecting off of metal above his head. _

_ The metal swung down- _

_ This is it. I am going to die.  _

 

Tony’s eyes flew open, breath coming in short pants.

“Tony,” Carol let go of his hand, moving to stroke his cheek. “You alright?”

“Always,” Tony said, before coughing. “Don’t worry about me.”

Carol frowned down at him. “I’ve worried about you for over thirty years. I’m not going to stop now.”

Tony was about to reply, when he closed his eyes. He didn’t hear Carol’s attempts to wake him.

 

_ Repulsor blast. Dodge. Repulsor blast. Block. _

_ Block. _

_ Block. _

_ Shield. Shield. Shield. _

_ The arc reactor. It won’t survive. _

_ You won’t survive. _

_ You’ve been abandoned. You will die here, on your mountain of self-righteousness. _

 

~~~

 

When Tony’s eyes snapped open, he was in a brightly lit room. He brought a (heavily bandaged) hand up to block his eyes.

“JARVIS,” he croaked, before frowning. “FRIDAY?”

“You’re not in the tower.”

Tony dropped his hand at the sound of the voice that he hadn’t heard in months. “Pepper.”

Pepper stood up, coming to stand right next to Tony, a smile on her face and tell tale signs of tears on her cheeks. “Tony. I’d kiss you, but I think it would do you more harm than good.”

Tony gave a small smile at that. “I think you’d be right. How was Asia?”

“Safe. No problems,” Pepper moved so that she was sitting beside Tony on the bed, taking his (non bandaged) hand in hers. “MIT gratefully accepted the donation. I’m already reading applicants to work at Stark Industries. Some of those projects are amazing, you’d love them.”

“Good. Those kids deserve something good.” Tony coughed, looking up at Pepper. “Water?”

Pepper leaned over to retrieve a cup of water, helping Tony to drink from it. 

“You’re wearing the necklace,” Tony focused on the heart, which Pepper reached for unconsciously.

“Of course; I’ll never take it off.”

“Good. Good. You look very dressed up for a hospital visit,” Tony commented, motioning to Pepper’s skirt and blouse.

Pepper rolled her eyes, returning the cup to the bedside table. She ran a hand through Tony’s hair. “I came from a meeting. Which I went to after seeing Rhodey. Which I did as soon as I touched down in America. I haven’t slept in forty eight hours. I haven’t showered in just as long.” She blew out a breath, giving Tony a tired look. “I must look like a mess.”

“You look beautiful.”

Pepper smiled, leaning down to kiss Tony’s forehead. “What did you do?” she whispered against his forehead.

Tony closed his eyes for a moment. “I don’t want you to worry about it.” He whispered back, opening his eyes again.

“Tony-” Pepper sat up, worry evident in her eyes.

“No. This is…” Tony blew out a breath. “A... A giant mess. And once I’m out of here, I’ll figure out how to fix it. Once I’m out of here. But not now. All that matters is that you are safe.”

“You aren’t the reason I was stuck in Asia.” It wasn’t a question.

“No. I barely had time to breath, let alone think of doing something like that.” Tony looked at her, a small smile on his face. “Everyone assumed that we were separated, and I let them think that. It tore me apart inside, but that way you were safe. You were safe...” Tony trailed off, looking at Pepper’s hand holding his.

Pepper moved a hand to hold his less-injured cheek. “I heard about the airport. It's a miracle that none of you died.”

“Rhodey’s paralysed. A bunch in prison,” Tony stopped, looking away from Pepper. “Giant shitstorm doesn’t  _ begin  _ to cover it. Pepper, how did it all go so wrong?”

Pepper kissed Tony’s head again. “I can’t answer that. You need to focus on getting better. The doctors say that you have a fractured sternum, a broken hand, a dislocated elbow, and your knees have been worn down. You’ll be lucky to walk out of here in a week.”

Tony laughed a humourless laugh. “Yeah. Rhodey’s not that lucky.”

“Do you want to go and see him?”

Tony shook his head. “Not like this. Not…” Tony remembered something, a thought he had had while lying on that cold floor. “I have an idea. Do you have a tablet?”

“Of course.”

“May I? You might have to help me.”

Pepper let go of Tony,  leaning over to her bag, retrieving a tablet and holding it so that Tony could type on it. She watched him work until her eyes fell closed, sleep consuming her. Tony took the tablet from her, laying it so that he could continue typing.

Tony worked through the night, refusing to close his eyes. Closing his eyes meant he  _ saw  _ things that he never wanted to see again. This way, he could help someone.  _ Someone that I hurt.  _

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hmmm....................  
> This could have some importance to coming chapters of 'To Live'.  
> Thanks for reading, let me know what you think


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